My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #961

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #961 from the issue of September 29, 2025, a car sits at the curb with a "For Rent" sign hanging from the open hood. A sales squirrel holding a clipboard welcomes another squirrel, a prospective client, to examine the car under the hood. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Lynn Hsu.

"If you don't have crypto, I do accept acorns."

October 11, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

October 13, 2025 Update:  I voted for the caption from Morrisville.

October 21, 2025 Update:  The Winner

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W. B. Park: Guilty?

Every one, even the squirrel in the park, had an opinion, but the subject of this cartoon, obvious in 1995, may not be so self-evident today:

"Is he guilty? Hell, yes, he's guilty. Now can we talk about something else?"
W. B. Park
Original art
The New Yorker, August 21 & 28, 1995, p. 90

The context for this ephemeral cartoon art by W. B. Park must have been plain to all The New Yorker's readers in the summer of 1995. The news back then was dominated by coverage of the ongoing O. J. Simpson double murder trial.

Detail, left

Detail, right, with W. B. Park's signature

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended August 1, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/196479739741?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01JA75GRHYYHQJZ2ZF2TX1WZAS&hash=item2dbf1ae75d:g:FLMAAOSw9UdmhJKo&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnpMCBsDXTQL8k0Spk8noPzotlCv4bNcxOaLkWjPiB5UxfX4nUDXEF644LNBBcu8fcS

mroFilt4PYU0hbTV53oazyZXdFeu8eY2znKbJIks%2FwTFRu8DzUnlrPXGeMWbjtKoay%2FmpFBDqJqvnr7%2BiDA4v7DeYTAxrfVLb8d7Ri8WTRJXxEuxHxSMCWb9YqA5CydKSX%2BB7zzac%2F%2B5p4Ozn3kRGROid0DRYPSXxtB8pZiu%2F36%2FgcDpOMUuuQ2xK2dbscE%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4iJw-XRZA

W. B. Park
eBay item description

[End of eBay listing]

"Is he guilty? Hell, yes, he's guilty. Now can we talk about something else?"
W. B. Park
The New Yorker, August 21 & 28, 1995, p. 90

"Is he guilty? Hell, yes, he's guilty. Now can we talk about something else?"
W. B. Park
Original art
The New Yorker, August 21 & 28, 1995, p. 90

With a drawing by W. B. Park and a poem by Emily Hiestand

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1995-08-21/flipbook/090/

Note:  The jury subsequently acquitted O. J. Simpson of the murder charges. Opinions on the verdict were divided along racial lines. The squirrel was dumbfounded.

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The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #81

Sink your teeth into the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #81. My three entries are shown here. The drawing is by Teresa Burns Parkhurst.

"I'm just glad we don't have to eat outdoors."
"This place is great. Feel like a good yelp?"
"This joint could sure use some nuts."

July 8, 2020 Update:  The Winner

Note:  Readers are welcome to leave their own entries as comments.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Teresa Burns Parkhurst

Dogs

Squirrels

Pizza

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

All the Collected Cartoon Caption Contests

Attempted Bloggery's Reservations-Only Index

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The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #76

We're now up to the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #76. The filename for the image is Bird Hygge. I had to look it up, but it works. My entries are shown here. The drawing is by Ellis Rosen.

"It's time you learned there's more to life than nuts."
"I never considered worms to be comfort food."
"Deal: you scratch my wing—I fan your tail."
"Once treed, I vowed to make the best of it."

June 3, 2020:  The Winner

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ellis Rosen

Birds

Squirrels

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

All the Collected Cartoon Caption Contests

Attempted Bloggery's Comfy Index

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My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for September/October 2018

Here are my entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for September/October 2018. Unlike The New Yorker's caption contest, multiple entries are permitted. Just like The New Yorker's contest, Jewish humor is encouraged. The nutty drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

"Two words:  acorn latkes."
"Why, no, I didn't see your eggs. Where do you think you put them all?"
"Now, now. You know better than to call them deplorables."
"I say winter, shminter."
"I have 100 good reasons for you to accept my marriage proposal."
"When I say, 'Nuts to you' it's a good thing!"

November 10, 2018 Update:  The Finalists

January 16, 2019 Update:  Winning Caption

Glossary of Jewish Humor:  Latkes are fried potato pancakes traditionally associated with the holiday of Chanukah. Or is it Hanukkah?

Note:  Moment has just published a profile of some of its Caption Contest contributors here.
Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Benjamin Schwartz

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

All My Caption Contests

Attempted Bloggery's Bonkers Index

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Autumn Squirrel: Abe Birnbaum New Yorker Cover Art

Original New Yorker cover artwork by Abe Birnbaum has been captured on a Kodachrome slide from 1955. Note how important the small squirrel is to the success of the composition. The published cover appears somehow to have deeper red highlights than the image of the original painting preserved on the slide.

The eBay seller, after listing three previous such slides unblemished, has finally remembered to mar the image with a watermark. Rather than using the watermark to brand the image with his seller name, an ugly but widespread commercial practice, he's instead used the word watermark itself, the defacement of this rare image for the non-purchaser being the sole objective.

Abe Birnbaum, Original Artwork for The New Yorker, October 8, 1955

Abe Birnbaum, The New Yorker, October 8, 1955

Note:  It occurs to me that some of the original New Yorker cover art I'm discussing this week, including this fine seasonal cover by Abe Birnbaum, is quite probably still around somewhere being enjoyed in private collections. If you know of the current whereabouts of any of these pieces and would like to give this blog's readers an update on them, including perhaps notes on their condition or their personal meaning for you, please contact me at my email address.

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